Marketing tactic hasn't let you forget about today

It's Valentine's Day. You do know that, right? Of course you do. For the past couple of weeks, you have been inundated with the reminder that the day is coming and you'd better get that gift for your love. But in the past couple of days, did you notice the strong advertising that was aimed at you?

Those in the holiday's industry are feeling the extreme pressure of a bad economy and if they are going to survive, they have to make sure you get the message that they've got what you absolutely have to have for Valentine's Day.

Their marketing brings me back to an essential marketing technique that businesses need to be involved with more often - never let the public forget you and your products and services are available. Even more important, never let your customers forget about your company.

Businesses take for granted that the public knows about them or that their customers will remember them. But we forget that consumers are bombarded with information...our memories have a hard time keeping up with it all.

What are some ways you can keep your company right in front of people so they don't forget you? Direct mail works, especially with previous customers. Media advertising works when it is targeted to the correct people. Billboards and signage definitely work when they are in the right location for your market. Sponsorship of events works, especially in reminding people of your company's responsibility to the community. There dozens of  other ideas that you could come up with with a little brainstorming that might even be extremely cheap or free.

Keep your company and it's image in the public and it will be that same reminder that all this Valentine's Day marketing has created - that your business is here and ready to meet customer's needs. What can you do this week to make your company more visible to the public?

It's okay to be different.

Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted to be just like everyone else. Well, most teens do anyways. Who wants to stand out like a sore thumb when all you want to do is be liked by everyone?

The opposite holds true as a business. Don't fall into the trend of being like everyone else. Consumers want to be different and experience different experiences.

Think about that new, trendy restaurant in town that opened up that people are flocking to for it's unique food. In my town, coffee shops are all over the place. When the first one opened up, it was something new and different, and it was quickly a popular spot. It still is. But up popped another coffee shop, which was okay, and then another. Finally, there was such a huge flux of coffee shops opening that we'd roll our eyes when we saw a new one. The idea was well worn. The first coffee shop is still open and doing well; the others have all closed down.

If you are in a market where there are a lot of competitors, think about how you can be different. Offer a different experience than what the others are offering. Find ways to stand out in the crowd and be different.

Target your Market

There is nothing worse than wasting time and money on marketing efforts that yield little results. It's frustrating, at the least. Have you really narrowed down your marketing to hit the exact audience you cater to?

Sure the newspaper guy wants to offer you a great rate in his newspaper, but is that newspaper going to your target marketing? And sure you could be ranking in the top of Internet search results for certain keywords, but are those keywords geared to your audiences attitudes?

Targeting your perfect audience takes a good deal of analyzation. It takes thinking about you, your company, your employees, your product, your brand, your community and your customers.

1. Don't overlook the biggest factor in targeting your market - how much money people have. Some people say that your marketing shouldn't have anything to do with the spending power you customers and clients has, but it really has a lot to do with knowing your key audience. Sure, not every single customer of yours will fit into your target income level - they may be higher or lower - but base your target market on the average income or spending power your clients have. This will help you drastically in marketing to those who generally can afford or benefit from your product or service.

2. Give your audience an age, and possibly gender. Again, this is just like income - some people say don't judge your target market by age. But you have to. If your target customer is, in reality, a 60-year old woman and you continue to put advertising into a magazine for new parents just because you think a lot of people read it and it's a good deal, you are wasting money. Your target customer isn't reading it.

3. Give your audience a location. It's okay to say "nationwide" or "worldwide" if your audience truly is that large. But the more fine tuned you can get your location, the better for your marketing. Be reasonable in who really can use your products and services.

4. Don't forget about your target audiences' values. What are the things they value in life? Why do they value your product or service? Knowing what is important to them allows you to understand how they spend their time, and thus, target their feelings and emotions.

5. Get as specific as possible in targeting your market. Women who like high fashion but are on a budget. Childless couples who love their pets. Grandmothers with granddaughters ages newborn to five. Balding men in their thirties. High-end supermarkets in a 100-mile radius of your company.

When you get this specific, not only can you find your niche marketing avenues, you can also think about other companies you can associate yourself with that cater to this niche market and you can also work at coming into contact with those specific people in your day-to-day operations. And you can also determine the feelings and attitudes of those very specific groups of people - key in giving emotion to your marketing.

Public Relations tips we can take from Tucson

When tragedy happens, you can usually find people pointing blame at one another once the initial impact of the tragedy has happened. The shooting almost two weeks ago in Tucson is one of those examples. But as I like to believe, when bad things happen, we should try to take away things from what has happened to improve our lives.

Now this post isn't going to point fingers at anybody. It's barely about the politics of the Tucson incident. So let's not make this about politics. Let's instead use it to improve our public relations skills.

Whether you are a politician, business owner, public official, non-profit director or you do the marketing or PR for any of these people, you always need to keep an eye on your image or the image you are presenting to the public of your employer. Are there things that you do, say, print, etc., that could make you a target for attacks? You may not even realize that some of the things in your life and business could eventually affect what the public thinks of you.

Here's some tips to keep you thinking about how you can improve your public relations:

1. You may think that once you are off the clock that you are now on personal time. But people - your customers, your constituents, your future customers - are watching you. Are you warm and friendly in public and dressed appropriately? Also think about your behavior - are you doing things that could lead to embarrassment down the road. There have been many a time when a police officer is suddenly embarrassed and removed from his position for drunk driving. An even simpler example is that of your general behavior while shopping, driving, socializing.


2. Think before you speak. Someone with good public relations skills will analyze what they are about to say and make sure they have chosen the right words. This applies not only to politicians but also to those working in the business sector. Offending potential customers by the words you speak on the phone with them, in person, on your website, or in your marketing materials leads won't keep them returning to you for business. Many times though, you may not realize that what you have said is offensive. What may be funny or thought-provoking to you, may not be to the next person.


3. When the rumors and attacks start coming, don't fight back. Rumors or attacks, whether they are unfounded or not, usually come from people that make it their business to attack you and others. There is no winning these people over and many times they really do just want to start a fight. By just being quite and ignoring their attacks, you can no longer fuel the fire they are trying to start. And to make up for what they have done to you, begin doing the opposite of what they are trying to characterize you with. Be generous in your community, help others and create an outstanding repertoire with your customers and associates.


Now, unhappy customers with legitimate claims is a different story. You should always make right an unhappy customer that is reasonable. As a matter of fact, go above and beyond what would make things right. Then you will have less to worry about concerning negative comments to their friends about you.

Describe your business in two words

Here's a little activity that is going to help you out so much with figuring out your marketing. Two little words are going to possibly be a big start to new changes in your marketing.

I want you to think of two words that describe your business - your clientele, your products, the overall image you want the public to have of your brand or company, etc. Take time when thinking about what those two descriptive words are.

Also, take time to make yours unique. Try to stay away from cliche words that everyone in your industry uses. What stands you apart from your customers?

Think about your target market. Who are those people and how would you describe them? Or your products - what is it about your products that you want people to love?

Only two words. It's restricting on purpose; narrow your marketing and you will create the image and audience that you want.

So, what two words did you come up with? I'd love to hear what you came up with in the comments. I'll start first: I recently did this for my photography business and came up with "upscale personalization." That's definitely going to set the business apart from other photographers in the market.